Chef Stephan Pyles is scrapping renovation plans for his restaurant Samar by Stephan Pyles in favor of a new place called San Salvaje at the same Ross Avenue address. (Say it San Sal-VAH-hay.)

The menu will be modern Latin, he says, with tacos, empanadas, ceviches and fresh tortillas inspired by his travels to South America. He is specifically interested in the food from Peru, Mexico and Cuba.

The now-closed Samar received a four-star review from Dallas Morning News restaurant critic Leslie Brenner, but Pyles says “it was not a restaurant that made a lot of money.”

“I think people thought it was too exotic — some people. It’s too bad because I love it. It had such a niche following,” he says.

He hopes San Salvaje appeals to a wider audience. As in: “I want it to boom. I don’t want a $1.5 million restaurant, I want a $2.5 million restaurant.”

The bocce ball court added to Samar will stay, and Pyles plans to put a bar near it. The interior of the restaurant will be redone in “dynamic” colors, Pyles says, with “lots of crosses on the walls and masks.”

Two items are still up in the air: Pyles has named a chef but wouldn’t say who, though the chef will come from within, he confirmed. The opening date isn’t known, but Pyles hopes for “sometime before summer.”

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